Sand dollar or sea biscuit fossil?

[Beamertg]

[Al Dente]

Looks like you have been to North Topsail Beach. Those are Oligocene aged echinoids (sea biscuits) called Maretia carolinensis.

[digit]

Yup, sea biscuits--the name for a famous race horse of the 1930s and for irregular echinoids of the order Spatangoida.

Your finds remind me a lot of the species that has long been proposed as the Florida state fossil--Eupatagus antillarum. I've dived with echinoids for decades but only recently was able to add a echinoid to my growing collection of fossils. See this post if you haven't already come across it: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/58576-yankeetown-echinoid-hunt/

The patterning on the top surface of your fragments appears similar to Eupatagus but there are others on this forum with a much deeper knowledge of these things who will likely weigh in with better information.

Cheers.

-Ken

Edit: Like Al Delte who beat me to the punch by mere seconds with a much more authoritative answer.

Edited November 6, 2015 by digit

[Beamertg]

Yes I definitely found the on North Topsail